The mouthpiece is where the player and the trumpet physically meet to create the trumpet's tone. How the trumpet sounds and responds to the player is determined largely by the mouthpiece. If the feel is wrong, or if the mouthpiece has even the slightest imperfection, playability is compromised. A top quality mouthpiece is a vital part of every trumpet.

Many inexpensive student trumpets are shipped with a generic mouthpiece from an unknown manufacturer - often with uneven quality control. Differences in the manufacturing process of even thousandths of an inch have a big impact on mouthpiece playability. A poor quality mouthpiece makes a good trumpet hard to play.

We ship every Haydn student trumpet with a Vincent Bach 7c mouthpiece. For decades, Vincent Bach trumpet mouthpieces have been known as the finest available. They're much more expensive than generic no-name mouthpieces, but skimping on such an important trumpet component just doesn't make sense.

Why a Vincent Bach 7c mouthpiece? The Vincent Bach Company developed a numbering system for mouthpieces many years ago. The first number (7) refers to the diameter of the mouthpiece cup. Higher numbers equal smaller diameter cups.

The letter (c) refers to the depth of the cup. A deep cup produces a bigger, darker sound, while a shallower cup makes it easier to play high notes. An (a) cup is deep while an (e) cup is very shallow. The exact shape of the cup (whether it is more "v" shaped or more rounded like a "u" has an impact on the tone as well. Other factors such as the rim shape and width also play a role. Another element, the backbore (the bore through the mouthpiece), controls both the tone and resistance of the mouthpiece.

In short, a 1a mouthpiece would be a very wide, deep mouthpiece. A 1a would be very difficult and tiring to play but would produce a big, rich sound. On the other hand, an 11e mouthpiece would be narrow, shallow and very easy to play, especially for high notes, but the tone would tend to be thin, brassy and harsh.

The 7c size falls in between these extremes and is considered to be the best choice as a standard student trumpet mouthpiece. It provides for a good level of comfort and endurance as well as a rich tone.